Railway rail support



Apri@ M, 1936..' H. THERIDG I' i l 2,037,315

RAILWAY RAIL SUPPORT Filed Aug. 2, 1934 Patented Apr. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES ATsNT orsi-cs RAILWAY RAIL SUPPORT Harry Etheridge, Zelienople, Pa. y lApplicata-1n August z, 1934, serial No. 738,059

10 Claims.

My invention relates to that type of railway track structure wherein the support for the rails and rail joints are individual in that they do not bridge the space between the rails as is the case 5 with the conventional cross tie.

In modern practice such individual rail supports-,are usually formed of concrete generally lreinforced with metal, and the concrete which carries rthe load and assumes the thrusts tends to disintegrate.

vBetter practice is to employ a metal framework to carry the 'load using the concrete or other plastic material to supply the necessary oating weight and to brace or support the metallic elements and to protect the latter from atmospheric deterioration.

:Practical illustrations of such use of concrete or other plastic material are to be found in Letters Patent No. 2,004,369, issued to me June 1l, 1935 and my pending patent application Serial- No. 714,933, filed March 10, 1934.

`In said patent application Serial No. '714,933 I "disclose "a rail support Ywherein the perimetral Wall. or surface which when the support is embedded in the ballast provides equal resistance in all directions against movement.

The present invention comprises further improvements in rail supports providedwith circular perimetral walls, and is `of annular shape with a center which is tamped and filled with ballast when the support is in place.

The cross sectional shape of the annular support is preferably of inverted U-sh'ape and the trough thereof is filled with some suitable hardened plastic material, such as concrete or an asphaltum composition.

I preferably provide the trough with cross.

struts or webs which reinforce the opposite walls and also aid in permanentlyanchoring the lling material in place.

AThe track rail is supported transversely ofthe 'support and is bolted to flanges or suitable portions `of the metallic annulus. To prevent relative lateral movement between the rails and the support, "thebase of the rail is received in sunken se`ats,`the side walls yor shoulders which define the seats being formed as opposed convex surfaces to 'permit the standard supports to be used on curves in either direction in addition to their use on tangents.

As an additional support for the rail adjacent the center of the annulus, andv especially where the supports are to be used at rail joints, I prefer to provide an upwardly bowed arch springing from'the interior 'wall of the annulus and having lll) a flattened crown which supports the rail o`r the rail joint, as the case may be, from beneath. I may also employ a flat platform supported by the arch and supporting from beneath the portion of the rail or rail ends across the metallic "-5 annulus.

I prefer to form the annulus, its flanges, struts, arch and supporting plate as an integral casting which should preferably be of copper bearing malleable or cast steel. @I0

I provide novel means Vfor fastening the rails t0 the support.

'To prevent inward tipping 'of the rail supports I offset them toward 'the center of the track.

Other novel features of construction, and also "#15 of arrangement of parts will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein I `have illustrated a practical embodiment of vthe principles'of my present invention,`Fig. 1 is a plan 20 View of one of the individual rail supports with a rail mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 is a cross `sectional view of the support taken along the line 2 2 in iFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing `25 a 'modication Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 4-'4 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the rail support look-ing from the right in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an kenlarged 'detail View showing the form of fastener which I provide to secure the base of the rail to the support.

Fig. 7 is a view similar 'to Fig. 4 but showing the intermediate supporting arch and also the 35 intermediate rail platform.

Referring rst to Figs. l and v2, the metallic annulus I is of inverted U cross sectional shape having a flat top and preferably having the 'opposite walls of its trough 2 vconnected together and reinforced byr cross-struts or webs 3 positioned at. intervals around the annulus. The trough 2 is cast full of material in a plastic state which hardens and forms a filling 4. Such mate- 45 rial may be concrete or some other suitable material, such for instance, as a. composition of asphaltum, sand andgravel or broken stone.

The rail 5 is disposed transversely of the support, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and beneath 50 the rails at either side of the support are outwardly extending brackets 6 which also support the rail from beneath. Such brackets might, if desired, extend inwardly of the annulus, instead of outwardly, but 'owing to convenience in apply- 55 ing the fasteners to the rails the outwardly extending bracket is preferable.

The brackets 6 are wider than the rail base, as show n in Fig. 1 and a sunken seat 'I is provided extending across the top of the annulus and the bracket to receive the base of the rail, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5, the seat being of such depth that the base extends upwardly out of the same.

The side walls 8 of said seats are convexedly arcuate, as illustrated in Fig. 1, so that' the rail supports may be used with curved rails on curves in either direction.

At either side of the rail base the bracket is provided with a vertical bolt hole 9 to receive bolts I0 which are used to clamp the fastener plates I I down on the rail base, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The fasteners II are provided with downturned flanges I3 which fit against the sides of the brackets and prevent rotation of the fastener and the engaging end of the fastener is beveled as at I4 to engage the inclined surface of the rail base. The fastener does not Contact with the top of the bracket 6 except at its anged end, so thatl by tightening the bolt I0 the fastener is spring clamped on the rail. I5 represents a socket nut arranged to receive the bolt IE) and arranged to be held from rotation by the adjacent flat edge of the bracket 6. The bolt I0 is screwed down through the fastener plate I I and the boltl hole 9 into the nut I5 and is provided with a suitable locking device, such as indicated at I6 in Fig. 6. To prevent the rail supports from tipping inwardly under moving loads, I offset them toward the center of the track as illustrated in Fig. 1. In a support of say 40 inches in diameter, the offsetting of the support toward the center of the track should be about 2.2 inches.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, I illustrate the outer and inner annular walls of the support as corrugated which stiifens them and which also aids materially in anchoring the support in the ballast, which latter of course surrounds the support and fills the central opening or bore.

In Fig. 7 I show an arched truss I'I springing from the inner annular wall of the support and preferably provided with a flattened top surface to under-support the rail intermediate of its seats 1.

The arch is cast integrally with the body of the annulus and may be of inverted channel cross sectional shape as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7. Again as a further support to the rail a platform I8 may be provided bridging the center of the support and under-supporting the rail, said platform being integral with the truss II.

It will be noted that while the annulus is filled Ywith material, the load is carried by the metal from the rail to the ballast beneath the support. Again the summer heat is likewise carried directly to the ground so that the tendency of the rail to elongate and shift by warping is counteracted.

In ordinary railway construction I prefer to make the supports of approximately 40 inches in diameter and space them about lOl/2 inches apart with about 51/2 inches between the brackets of adjacent supports.

The resistance of an ordinary cross tie to side movement is of course provided by the end area of the tie which is usually about 8 inches wide by 6 inches deep. In the case of my improved rail support, one hundred and eighty degrees of its outer and inner diameters are effective to resist thrust in any direction. Tests have shown that the resistance of fourteen of my supports to side thrust is approximately thirteen times that of seventeen standard cross ties per each thirty feet of track.

A track built with my supports is a substantially permanent construction and requires little or no repairs and being made of copper bearing steel resists corrosion.

Again I am enabled to t'amp the ballast under and around the annulus from the inner and outer sides thereof which enables me to obtain a substantial rock bed for the rail support and which also increases the ballast resistance between the rails which provide an improved condition for electrical track circuits.

Although I prefer to make my improved rail support in the form of a true annulus with a circular perimetral wall, such wall may be oval or of other arcuate form and the resistance of the support to movement in the ballast will be greatly increased compared to that opposed to endwise movement by the conventional cross-tie. -Thus as used in this specification the term annulus is not to be construed as confined to a circle but also includes an oval or other inclosed form.

1. An individual support for a railway rail comprising a metallic annulus of inverted substantially U cross sectional shape, brackets extending from the walls of said annulus at opposite locations, the transversely disposed rail being supiported by the top` of the annulus and said brackets, sunken seats in the top of the annulus to receive the rail bases, and fasteners engaging the brackets and clamping the rail base in said seats.

2. An individual support for a railway rail comprising a metallic annulus of inverted substantially U cross sectional shape, a filling of hardened plastic material for the trough of such annulus, brackets extending from the walls of said annulus at opposite locations, the transversely disposed rail being supported by the top of the annulus Vand said brackets, sunken seats in the top of the annulus to receive the rail bases, and fasteners engaging the brackets and clamping the rail base in said seats.

3. An individual support for a railway rail comprising a metallic annulus of inverted substantially U cross sectional shape, brackets extending from the walls of said annulus at opposite locations, the transversely disposed rail being supported by the top of the annulus and said brackets, sunken seats in the top of the annulus to receive the rail bases,land fasteners engaging the brackets and clamping the rail base in said seats, the side walls of said seats being arcuate to receive a curved rail.

4. An individual support fora railway rail comprising a metallic annulus of inverted substantially U cross sectional shape, a filling of hardened plastic material for the trough of such annulus, brackets extending from the walls of said annulus at opposite locations, the transversely disposed rail being supported by the top of the annulus and said brackets, sunken seats in the top of the annulus to receive the rail bases, and fasteners engaging the brackets and clamping the rail base in said seats, the side walls of said seats being arcuate to receive a curved rail.

5. An individual support for a railway rail comprising a, metallic annulus of an invertedy supporting the rail intermediate of the surrounding wall of the annulus.

6. An individual support for a railway rail comprising a metallic annulus of an inverted substantially U cross sectional shape, a filling of hardened plastic material for the trough thereof, the rail being disposed tranversely of and fastened on the top walls of the annulus, and an arch truss sprung from the inner walls of the annulus and supporting the rail intermediate of the surround-v ing wall of the annulus.

'7. An individual support for a railway rail comprising a metallic annulus of an inverted substantially U cross sectional shape, the rail being disposed transversely of and fastened on the top walls of the annulus, a rail supporting platform spanning the center of the annulus and supporting the rail from below, and an arched truss sprung from the inner walls of the annulus and supporting said platform.

8. An individual support for a railway rail comprising a metallic annulus of an inverted substantially U cross sectional shape, a filling of hardened plastic material for the trough thereof, the rail being disposed transversely of and fastened on the top walls of the annulus, a rail supporting platform spanning the center ,of the annulus and supporting the rail from below, and an arched truss sprung from the inner walls of the annulus and supporting said platform.

9. A railway rail support comprising an inclosing double wall which is continuous in a horizontal plane and has the cross sectional shape of an inverted trough and which is provided at opposite points with transversely disposed sunken seats to receive the base of the rail, which seats are located in the top surface of the wall, and means to secure the rail to said support.

10. A railway rail support comprising an inclosing double wall which is continuous in a horizontal plane and has the cross sectional shape of an inverted trough and which is provided at opposite points with transversely disposed sunken seats to receive the base of the rail, which seats are located in the top surface of the Wall, said seats being provided with curved walls to accommodate longitudinally curved rails, and means to secure the rail to said support.

HARRY ETHERIDGE. 

